I have worked in and with midwifery centers for the span of my career. I began as a staff midwife at Reading Birth Center in 2001. Eventually, I was the practice director there for almost 10 years and left to return to grad school to do global work. In 2016 I co-founded the Goodbirth Network, a network of midwifery centers in LMIC.
A midwifery center (MC) is a healthcare facility that reflects a home-like environment, embodying a respectful, collaborative philosophy, and advocating for the agency of all participants in the process of health. Care is provided for women throughout their life course, using the midwifery model of care. It ensures basic emergency maternal and neonatal care for all births and is integrated within the health care system, in order to align the level of care to the optimal outcome. The facility is linked to its local community to respond to their needs while holding the woman’s experience at its heart and center.
I believe deeply that midwives need an enabling environment to fully enable the midwifery model of care. A midwifery center is the physical reflection of this. Using lessons learned from midwifery centers, we can bring ideas and tools for midwifery-led care in all contexts. I hope to do this with Goodbirth Network (GBN), my consulting, and research.
GBN’s mission is to support the development and strengthening of high-quality midwifery centers in LMIC. This is done through regular network calls, technical support, data collection for benchmarking quality (including health outcome and exit surveys of women), the development of operational standards, and an accreditation process.